Posted on 01/13/2020 4:23:31 AM PST by Bruiser 10
COLORADO SPRINGS — The sergeant in charge of one of the busiest Army recruiting centers in Colorado, Sergeant First Class Dustin Comes, joined the Army, in part, because his father served. Now two of his four children say they want to serve, too. And he will not be surprised if the other two make the same decision once they are a little older.
“Hey, if that’s what your calling is, I encourage it, absolutely,” said Sergeant Comes, who wore a dagger-shaped patch on his camouflage uniform, signifying that he had been in combat.
Enlisting, he said, enabled him to build a good life where, despite yearlong deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, he felt proud of his work, got generous benefits, never worried about being laid off, and earned enough that his wife could stay home to raise their children.
“Show me a better deal for the common person,” he said.
Soldiers like him are increasingly making the United States military a family business. The men and women who sign up overwhelmingly come from counties in the South and a scattering of communities at the gates of military bases like Colorado Springs, which sits next to Fort Carson and several Air Force installations, and where the tradition of military service is deeply ingrained.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Soldiers who don't understand that are worse than useless in combat.
The dagger patch? Really?
That stuck out to me. The combat infantryman’s badge is not anything like a dagger. It is probably a unit or organizational emblem. As it is NYT, I am guessing the ‘reporter’ does not know the difference.
Agreed.
Remember during the 1st Gulf War when the deployments started and some of the troops were grumbling that they had signed up for the educational benefits and not to go off to war?
That was almost thirty years ago and I knew then we were in deep kim-chi as a nation.
Can’t say it’s improved any.
Maybe it’s like the ‘rifle/wreath’ patch?
Hard to keep up anymore.
Methinks Sgt Comes tamped this reporter slam full of shit,if he even exists.
Never seen a triangular dagger patch.
Methinks you may be right. He saw an NYT soyboy and decided to have a bit of fun. And some made it into soyboy’s article.
I am not reading the Slimes for anything. Just like I have abandoned Dr-dge.
Nope but I’m a Marine.
This country wasn’t designed to have a large standing army. In fact, it was founded by men who never wanted their government to have such power.
True to a point. A majority of *soldiers* however fill roles in the ‘tail’, not the ‘head,’ particularly in the Army and Air force.
War fighters need REMFs for food, equipment and logistics.
Notice I did not include uncle Sam’s misguided children in this ...
Can you imagine? I’d have him tamped so full,he’d have dingleberries rolling out of his ears. I still remember an old gunny’s orders about reporters:
“You don’t have to talk to them but you can’t shoot ‘em.”
10th Mountain is has units are Ft Carson now. Crossed Daggers. If the patch is worn on the right shoulder that signifies you were deployed with that unit.
The US isn't an empire. And American military spending is low compared to much of the Cold War. The real problem is government spending on the civilian sector. This has skyrocketed from about 15% of annual production to about 30%. Whereas defense has gone down from about 10% during the Eisenhower era to about 4% today.
I was referring more to an hereditary military class.
All empires I think also have the problem of what to do with the children of the scribes.
The vast majority of the young people that join the military today still join out of a deep sense of pride in country and commitment to nation.
President Trump has given a lot of young people a renewed sense of Patriotism -- Something that I noticed during the eight years of Oblahblah was falling off.
This nation will continue to be blessed with warriors (men and women) as long as parents continue to teach Christian morals, values, and principles. Oddly enough the same morals, values, and principles that our founding fathers based the creation of our nation on – When that is gone, so goes the nation.
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams
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